save you. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped; the lame man shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing," Isa. xxxv. 4-6. Has the Lord given you a desire to believe in his dear Son? Doubt not but he will also give you the power. Does God the Lord bring to the birth, and not give strength to bring forth? That be far from him! the suspicion be far from us! He has, in unspeakable mercy, appointed his blessed Spirit for this purpose. The Holy Ghost, the Comforter, attendeth continually on this very thing, to testify of Christ, and to reveal Christ in our sinful souls; enabling us to discern the all-sufficiency of Christ, to discern our right to make use of Christ, and to receive Christ as our own, our own God and Saviour.

Be it then your daily endeavour, your continual business, to believe; firmly, confidently, assuredly to believe in Jesus Christ, as the great and glorious Redeemer, in whom you have pardon, you have righteousness, and eternal life. Thus exercise yourselves unto godliness, and "God will help you; God will strengthen you; yea, God will uphold you with the right hand of his righteousness." Thus exercise yourselves unto godliness, depending on the divine faithfulness, proceeding on the divine warrant, in obedience to the divine command, which expressly says, "Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper," 2 Chron. xx. 20.; "believe in his dear Son, so shall ye be saved," Acts xvi. 31.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Now thou art commanded, this do," Gen. xlv. 19. Let me also say to my hearers, Now ye are allowed, invited, commanded to believe in the Son of God, this do. It is your grand concern; the one thing needful. Without this, nothing will profit you. Therefore I repeat my exhortation; therefore I am so urgent; therefore I cannot dismiss the subject, without beseeching the Father of mercies to command a blessing upon the word, that

you may indeed "believe unto righteousness," (Rom. x. 10.) unto life, unto salvation. Thus will you glorify the ineffable goodness of God, and the inestimable merit of Christ; thus will you find a sure, a full, an incomparably rich provision made for your safety; and thus will you most effectually comply with that tender and gracious invitation of the Lord your God, "Come, my people; enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold! the Lord cometh out of his place, to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity," Isa. xxvi. 20, 21.

And what will ye do, when the Lord cometh forth to punish, if you are not received into the hidingplace? What will ye do, ye men of sober and decent conversation, who have nothing but an outward regularity, and some customary conformity to religious worship? These, though in their place valuable, yet are no security. They are only the outworks, not your fortification nor your citadel. When the righteous Judge "shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, to take vengeance on them that obey not the gospel," 2 Thess. i. 7, 8.; these, without the blood of sprinkling, will be but as a withered leaf amidst the inextinguishable burning.

What will ye do, ye men of wealth and large possessions? Will riches profit you in the day of wrath? Prov. xi. 4.; will riches protect you in the day of the Lord's controversy? Alas! they will mark you out for a prey, and serve only to lure the vultures. If riches have been your idol-hoarded up in your coffers, or lavished out upon yourselves-they will, when the day of reckoning comes, be like the garment of pitch and brimstone put upon the criminal condemned to the flames.

What will ye do, ye mighty men of valour? If the Lord turn his hand upon you, your heart shall fail, and your knees be feeble; your arm shall lose its strength, and your sword shall lose its edge. Your

fleets and armies "shall be as tow," and the commanders of them " as a spark; and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them," Isa. i. 31. If you are not sheltered and secured by this blood, what will ye do when the shout of the archangel is made, and the trump of God is heard? Undaunted as you now seem, you will then, in an agony of despair, "call upon rocks to fall upon you, and mountains to cover you,' "Rev. vi. 16.

What will ye do, ye voluptuous men, and ye careless women? ye that eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall? ye that drink wine in bowls, and anoint yourselves with the chief ointments? Ah! what will ye do when "the whole land," for the universal degeneracy of its inhabitants, for their contempt of Christ and neglect of grace, "shall become brimstone, and salt, and burning; ; insomuch, that it shall not be sown, nor bear, nor any grass grow thereon?" Deut. xxix. 23. Much more may I ask, What will ye do when the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, when the elements shall melt with fervent heat, when the whole earth, and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up?

What will ye do, people of all ranks and conditions, when "mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour?" Ezek. vii. 26.; when your houses shall be laid in heaps, and your streets be made a place of graves? when your cities, that were full of inhabitants, shall be solitary; and not a voice heard amidst them, but sighs of the disconsolate, and groans of the dying? when your children shall be slaughtered in one place, your parents in another; and the slain shall lie behind the slayer, as the sheaves behind the reaper in the time of harvest?" Jer. ix. 22. But, above all, what will ye do when the great white throne is erected; when the earth and the heavens flee away from the face of him that sitteth thereon; and the dead, both small and great, stand before God to be judged? Without the blood

of sprinkling, where can you be safe? how will you appear? what will you do? Whereas, if Christ and his blood are yours, all is yours. You have nothing to fear, in time or eternity. "O! well is it with you, and happy shall you be." But this reminds me of adding a word,

4. By way of consolation. Possibly you may be ready to inquire, "What consolation will this administer, amidst the presages, or under the approach of national calamities?" Very great. "Fear not," says the Lord," for I have redeemed thee," Isa. xliii. 1. Redemption by Christ is a preservative from all terror, and an antidote against every evil. This causes the serene breast, and the lightsome heart. Hence comes calmness of conscience, "quietness and assurance for ever." Therefore says the prophet, "This man shall be our peace when the Assyrian shall come into our land." The blood and righteousness of our incarnate God shall be the sovereign support of our souls, even when the enemy invades our territories, and preys upon the vitals of our country; yea, when he "treads upon our palaces," Micah v. 5.; not only demolishes our dwellinghouses, but lays our royal edifices in the dust, and makes us feel all the grievousness of war.

Further, when this blood is sprinkled, sin is done away, and God is appeased. His promises are your portion, and his arm is your defence. For the comfort of such people it is written, "He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh," Job v. 19-21. In the hands of this reconciled and faithful Creator, this unwearied and almighty Deliverer, how safely may you deposit yourselves and your families, your possessions and your all!

Be not then discouraged, ye followers of Christ,

though troublous times should come.
All crea-
tures, and all events, are under the control of your
heavenly Father. If he has any further occasion for
your service, or sees it conducive to your good, he
will preserve you amidst the greatest dangers. He
can draw a curtain of concealment over you, as he
did over David in the cave, 1 Sam. xxiv. 3. He

can plant an invisible guard around you, as he did
around Elisha in Dothan, 2 Kings vi. 17. He can
turn the hearts of your adversaries, and make even the
enemy and the avenger to be at peace with you, as
he did in the case of Jacob and his enraged brother
Esau. Or, if you fall in the common calamity, "your
latter end shall be peace;" your inheritance is in-
alienable, and "your joy no man taketh from you."
Your best things, your eternal interests, are secure,
inviolably secure, being "hid with Christ in God,"
Col. iii. 3.

Happy, unspeakably blessed and happy the people on whom this blood is sprinkled! If vindictive visitations come upon the land, this may screen and protect their persons; like the mark, which the man clothed with linen set on the forehead of God's chosen ones, Ezek. xi. 6.; or like the line of scarlet thread, which Rahab the harlot bound to the window of her house, Josh. ii. 18, 19. However, by this blood of reconciliation, all afflictions shall be disarmed, and every evil unstrung. Nay, "all things," not in prosperity only, but in adversity likewise," shall work together for good." Death, even death, is vanquished for them, and become their gain; and the

*Rom. viii. 28. This seems to be the meaning of the Holy Ghost, in the passage lately quoted from Job:-In six, in manifold and various troubles, God shall deliver thee. Or, if he suffer thee to be involved in seven, there shall no evil, no penal evil, touch thee. His gracious presence shall be more than deliverance. Thou shalt not feel anguish, but enjoy comfort; thou shalt not suffer harm, but receive benefit. Though the flames of tribulation kindle all around, they shall not consume thee; but (like the fire which surrounded the three Hebrew confessors) shall only loose thy bonds, and set thee free; set thy affections free from a troublesome world, or set thy soul free from a prison of clay.

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